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10th Oct 2008 - 1st Nov 2008
Que Pasa......the Spanish Virgin Islands!
Que Pasa ………the Spanish Virgins After a few weeks of putting the boat back together, surfing, and enjoying new friends we finally said “adios” to the big island of Puerto Rico. We have really enjoyed being here. It was a great place to leave the boat while we were in Florida and a good spot to jump back into our cruising life. The scenery is beautiful, the people are awesome, food is good, and supplies are extremely easy to find. And there is a great West Marine store! So we head over to the Spanish Virgin Islands of Culebra and Vieques. The Spanish Virgin Islands are very similar to the U.S. and British Virgin Islands but they have been left unspoiled. So we spent a few weeks checking out these wonderful little islands.
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Diary Photos
| 11th Oct 2008 |
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| It's 5 O'clock somewhere! |
| We had a little happy hour in Liward’s cockpit with new friends before we left! Special thanks to new friend Victor, aka “Vetito”, for sharing all the great surf spots with Steve! |
| 12th Oct 2008 |
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| La Mina Falls |
| We just never get tired of waterfalls and here’s one more, La Mina Falls. In Puerto Rico the rainforest was only 30 minutes away. So we could zip up there for a picnic lunch when we needed a break. |
| 13th Oct 2008 |
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| Culebrita |
| Culebrita is a small island just off Culebra and only a 20 mile sail. Bahia de Tortuga is a favorite spot for the locals that come over for the day from the big island on the weekends. But in the evenings and during the week we had it all to ourselves. |
| 14th Oct 2008 |
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| What Trail?????? |
| So we read the guidebook and it talked about a trail to hike up to the old Spanish lighthouse built in 1880. But we sure couldn’t find the trail! We thought our stay would not be complete without visiting the lighthouse so we kept looking! |
| 15th Oct 2008 |
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| Where is that Trail???? |
| Still looking for that trail! Culebrita is a wildlife refuge so there is no development on this little island. Just 6 pretty beaches and a few hills. We had turtles swimming by the boat and lots of fish in the water. |
| 16th Oct 2008 |
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| Still no @#$% Trail! |
| Still no trail! Luckily Steve was carrying his Dad’s old machete so we could get through all the brush. But we still ended up with scratches, thorns, and lots of mud! |
| 17th Oct 2008 |
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| Finally! |
| We finally get to the top and wouldn’t you know it…….the lighthouse is surrounded by a chainlink fence. But we found a hole and went in to explore. Of course we also found the swarm of bees nesting in the top of the lighthouse. |
| 19th Oct 2008 |
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| What a view! |
| And what a view! But it sure was a lot of effort to climb a just 305 feet! |
| 19th Oct 2008 |
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| Bahia de Tortuga |
| We spent a few days all to ourselves. It’s been over 3 months since we’ve been out cruising. This was the perfect spot to relax and get back in the groove of our lifestyle. No dock, no shore power, no rental car…..but plenty of luxury! |
| 21st Oct 2008 |
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| Natural Jacuzzi |
| More exploring included finding a natural Jacuzzi. Which is really a large pile of rocks that enclose a pool. When the large waves crash over the rocks you get that “washing” action! |
| 22nd Oct 2008 |
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| Perfect for a Dip! |
| How’s this for a pristine saltwater natural pool. We of course took a swim! |
| 24th Oct 2008 |
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| If the shoe Fits! |
| When we are walking along deserted beaches we find all kinds of strange stuff. But we’ve never seen a shoe tossed high up on a tree like this. So we thought we’d title this one…..”If the Shoe Fits….”. |
| 25th Oct 2008 |
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| It's not China Beach! |
| Then we sailed over to the island of Culebra for a few days. This island was used by the Navy for bombing exercises and land assault training from 1936 until 1975. Now it is part of the U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System. But we were very careful about picking up any strange items on the beach, just in case some left-over ammunitions remained. And of course Steve did find a surf spot right by this tank on Flamengo Beach. It’s not China Beach but did look pretty strange! |
| 27th Oct 2008 |
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| Hammock Time |
| We have a travel hammock made of parachute nylon which is perfect for stringing up between two palm trees for Steve’s afternoon nap. |
| 28th Oct 2008 |
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| This won't last long! |
| But Lili is still using the old beach towel on the sand with a log for a head rest. Well that didn’t last long. We now have two travel hammocks! |
| 29th Oct 2008 |
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| Vieques |
| Then we sailed over to the island of Vieques which now is one of our favorites. Two-thirds of this island was purchased by the U.S. Navy in 1941. Until 2003 it was used for bombing exercises. But now that two-thirds is National Wildlife Refuge so it is beautiful and feels like the old Caribbean. There are many wonderful beaches around the island with great accessibility thanks to the Navy. In true Navy fashion, many are named with colors like Blue Beach, Red Beach, Yellow Beach since they were used for assault training exercises. |
| 30th Oct 2008 |
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| Great Friends |
| We met up with our friends Natalya and Stuart on “Zig Zag” whom we met in Grenada last year. And that’s also new friend Rob who is Zig Zag’s new Captain for charters. They have several new businesses on the island of Vieques included a mooring based yacht club, shops, and a bar. So they showed us around and were truly awesome hosts. We know this is one spot we’ll come back to.
But for some reason we just didn’t get many photos during our visit to Vieques to do the island justice. Here’s a shot showing some of the landscape. It is a 24 mile long beautiful island with only about 12, 000 people. We had a really relaxing visit with desolate beaches and bays where we were the only boat there. And the town of Esperanza is very cute with a waterfront boardwalk of bars, shops and restaurants. |
| 31st Oct 2008 |
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| Paso Fina |
| We did take in some of the Vieques local culture and went to the Paso Fina horse competition. These are the horses that prance and they are really graceful. But there was only one horse in the competition. And he came in 2nd place......Go figure.....this is the Caribbean! |
| 1st Nov 2008 |
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| There's always surf somewhere |
| It seems that no matter which islands we visit Steve always manages to find a wave to ride. Even islands not known for surf. The conditions were right for him to catch this little break called Cayo Tierra and it was just a short dingy ride around the bay!
Currently we have sailed 4 days south to the Dutch island of Bonaire. Its just 30 miles off the South American coast. So we’ll post another update in a couple of days. We are just now getting back into the swing of things of like remembering the camera, taking pictures, and keeping our website updated. And remember if you leave a message on the message board, we don’t get your email address unless you include it in the message text!
So stay tuned. |
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